South Padre 2016

We left on our trip Friday morning. Isabella ate her left over ice cream cone from the night before for breakfast while I finished loading up the van. Breakfast of champions... :)

With Michael gone to Africa, it was my first time to get us all packed a loaded for a trip on my own. I was proud we made it out the door by the time we did. We met my parents in Moore and Mom rode the rest of the way down with us.

We stopped for lunch at cracker barrel in Gainesville and then made a stop in Waco at Magnolia. Dad took the kids out to play on the grounds while Mom and I shopped. Then we had some crepes from the food trucks before we continued on south. It was a fun stop for all!

I made this timeline of our van to move for how many hours of the trip we had gone and how much farther to go. It turned in to lots of questions about when the van could move to the next number...but that was ok. :) We made it to San Antonio that night and spent the night. Then we drove on the next morning.

Finally unloaded at the beach house and down to the beach that evening! Heather got matching swimsuits for Isabella and Jillian.
Our Sunday morning was pretty rough and we ended up not going out to lunch with the rest of the family and heading back to the beach house for left over pizza and much needed naps. By that point I was over Michael being gone and beyond ready for my best friend and coparent to be back. He made it to the beach house about 9:30 that night. Isabella was asleep already but Benjamin stayed awake for a long time asking him about all of the animals he saw when he was in Africa. Even for about 30 minutes after Michael had gone to sleep, Benjamin was still asking- Dad did you see Lions? Did you see elephants? Did you see lizards Dad? And on and on. :)

Monday morning I laid in bed for over an hour drinking my coffee and reading. I swam in the ocean alone for as long as I wanted. Michael played with the kids, did the laundry we had so far, and changed a dirty diaper. And it was glorious. I was so glad he had the opportunity to go on his trip and so grateful to have him back with us. We spent the rest of the week enjoying the beach and the pool every day.

Feeding the seagulls together

At the sea turtle rescue center

Every time we went anywhere in the car, Benjamin would say, tell me when we pass the shark. So one day we stopped for a picture at the shark shop.

While Isabella LOVED being around our whole family all day every day and having so many people to interact with...Benjamin is more of an introvert like me. And pretty much every day at some point I'd find him chillin in his bed in the closet having some quiet time. :)

Michael and Isabella went to a sand castle lesson for George's birthday and learned some new skills.

One afternoon Isabella, Mom and I went on a girl date to Yummies for hot chocolate and key lime pie. They have great key lime pie!!

Matching pjs 

Beautiful, clear day at the beach! We had some rain and storms over the week, and some really pretty days too.  

He loved digging and playing at the beach.

On our dolphin cruise

Dolphins!

Benjamin fed and loved this turtle at the sea life center.

Flying kites with Papa our last night at the beach. A storm started rolling in the kites were going up. They flew for a little bit and then decided better not go the way of Benjamin Franklin and take them down.

Out to dinner our last night of the trip. At some point my brother commented we've spent over 3 months of our lives in South Padre for as many times we have gone over the years. We had a week of naps, swimming, playing with cousins, many traditions and fun. We loaded up Saturday morning and headed all the way home. It was a long day, but for being in the car from 7:30AM- til after 9:30 PM the kids did well. Another family beach week in the books!